New Deal
Black Tuesday
October 1929
Vanishing wealth; stocks decline
Great Dust Bowl
Windstorms and drought, top soil gone
Breadbasket empty; nature’s con
FDR
He’s the man, New Deal imposed
Opportunities renewed; hopes rose
New Deal Reigns
Work offered by the CCC
Saves the lost American dream
Recession Echo
The winter plunge 2009
Who will save our dreams this time?
Reality Knocks
Frustration with Congress, current events
November elections a time to vent
New Deal Needed
Americans looking for leadership
Power from sheep about to be stripped
*For Constance, a Rambling Poet’s “Create your own form, maybe?” contest
By Carolyn Devonshire
I work frequently in this form that I choose to call “Headline Couplets.” It includes a
headline followed by rhyming couplets that address the concept, person or event in
the first line of three-line verses. Probably inspired by my years as a journalist.

I'll bet this set of rusty shears have a story they could tell,
of the loneliness and broken backs in a land that's hot as hell,
where hopes and dreams mirrored lives that these shearers led,
here among the ruins of an outback-shearing shed.
I'll bet this set of rusty shears have a story often told,
in optimistic mirages where water is pure as gold,
and living quarters offered would barely shield the moon
in stifling heat of summer, or bitter cold in June.
All that's left is one wall teasing, the wind to blow it down.
Mustering yards are overgrown; mulga posts lie on the ground.
There's hand-made nails, broken rails, memories that are spread,
here among the ruins of an outback shearing shed.
I feel like I'm intruding out here on the western plains,
standing here in a ghostly wind where it hardly ever rains,
imagining I lived the life that these shearers led,
in the ruins with the ghosts of an outback shearing shed.
All that's left is one wall teasing, the wind to blow it down.
Mustering yards are overgrown; mulga posts lie on the ground.
Oil tins and sharpening stone, broken glass is widely spread
here among the ruins of an outback shearing shed.
I'll bet this set of rusty shears have a story they could tell,
of the loneliness and broken backs in a land that's hot as hell,
where hopes and dreams preceded lives that these shearers led,
here among the ruins of an outback-shearing shed.

Building castles in the air,
Gold and diamonds everywhere;
You were the brightest stars in your own skies
In empty space you built your dreams
Behind computer screens
You rode in long expensive cars
Drank in all the trendy bars
As all the while you lied and bet
Against the ones who'd hoped to get
Some small piece of our communal pie;
They bought your homes and with them bought the lie.
It was all an inside job
Pulled by a faceless mob
Of bankers, lawyers and their ilk.
It was all an inside job
By a thoughtless, greedy mob
Of men who rob the poor to sleep on silk.
Smoking candles, fallen flowers
Foreclosed homes and broken hours -
This is the aftermath of what you've done,
Games ill played and ill begun.
And the rich keep getting richer
Though they've painted us the picture
Of what happenswhen you set the weasels free.
They've no concern for you or me
Or the discrepancies we see;
Should be enough for us that they should always be.
No one's punished ,no one pays,
And they remain, complacent in their ways.
It was all an inside job
Staged by the untouched mob
Of bankers, lawyers and their ilk.
It was all an inside job
Perpetrated by the mob
Of men who rob the poor to sleep on silk.
And now this evil season
Has descended without reason
And the sheep will stand and wait
To receive their unearned fate.
I hope you're proud, you sleep at night
While masses live by candlelight
May your riches find you lone and cold
When you at last are frail and old
And no one mourns your passing days
And none thought loyal will stay
To watch with you all through the coming gloom
That pushes you, now helpless, to your tomb.
Castle building in the air
Gold and diamonds everywhere;
The brightest stars will dim away
Replaced by others, other days.
And so it goes, the inside job
Brought off by the blacksuited mob
The bankers, lawyers and their ilk.
The framers of the inside job
That heartless, faithless, grasping mob
Will one day drown, beneath a sea of silk.

Outside The City...
Outside the city where the pomegranates grow
one walks into another world
from long ago;
a grave of stone and marble...
monuments that stand
to guard the ghosts
of ancient souls on broken land.
Now great artistic wonders
seen in disarray
of columns standing tall,
but others toppled lay
so scattered on the fields
on which they proudly stood.
These works of Persian, Greek
and Roman empires should
in clear view lie
for all to honor and behold,
the history of centuries
that here unfold.
Outside, now modern,
Turkish city of Izmir,
historic Pergamon
lies bare to see, revere;
another world
that here existed long ago;
Outside the city where the pomegranates grow.
Sandra M. Haight
~Honorable Mention~ Premiere Contest
Contest: A First Line Prompt
Sponsor: Julia Ward
Judged: 05/03/2016
Izmir is noted for farming and selling pomegranates
Since my visit there twenty years ago, I hear that many
of the ruins have been restored.

I was here
I was here
First
I was here
First
Take a breath of
oxygen
Your choking on
confidence
The lights are on
but you cant see
Slit wrist
Bleed
You took my life
from me
Let us come back
You stole the air we
breath
Let us come back
I was here first
Choking on oxygen
I was here first
Choking on oxygen
I was here first
Choking on oxygen
You took my life
from me
Let us come back
You stole the air we
breath
Let us come back
Choking
Like Aliens
Choking on oxygen

to hear the song
search youtube for
"Aliens Choking on
Oxygen" Heliosonic
written by Sara
Perle and Omar Masri

They Be The Descendants Of The Confederacy
By Roy Merritt
Way down here in the land of cotton
A great many people are mean and rotten
A great many of them are foul you see
They be descendants of the Confederacy
They love that flag the Stars and Bars
Fly it from their trucks fly it from their cars
Some wear hoods only their eyes you see
They be descendants of the Confederacy
They be fools who feed on hate
They be fools a bunch of stupid ingrates
They be people who vote for poverty
They be descendants of the Confederacy
They want to go backward fast not slow
They want to go back to days of Jim Crow
They want to hate blacks burning crosses to see
They be descendants of the Confederacy
They no longer like the Democrats
Cos’ now they the party of the working class
Republicans the ones who feed their treachery
They now the party of the Confederacy
They fell for their lies the Republican scam
Thinking these Republicans ever gave damn
Ever gave a damn for their future you see
They be descendants of the Confederacy
Way down here below the Mason Dixon
They love our food our Christian tradition
The notion they’re kind full of hospitality
They be descendants of the Confederacy
Way down here in the land of cotton
A great many people are mean and rotten
A great many of them are foul you see
They be the descendants of the Confederacy
The ugly descendants of the Confederacy
The truly ugly descendants of the Confederacy

Marching the streets with our flags flying high
Deutschland uber allas was our battle cry
The Youth taught me to be tough and bold
With out hesitation I carried out every order I was told
To defend my Fatherland against Marxism was my desire
No one could extinguish this young Germans fire
Chorus
A memoir to the nation I served
The ruins of 1945 you did not deserve
A memoir to the nation I fought for
You should have had so much more
A memoir to the nation that now is shamed
Break the chains and shove the blame
I remember the day I first received the bolts
Pride ran through my veins and every waking thought
To fight for fatherland was my greatest honor
I would risk my life as I would become a great soldier
My Panzer division would be one of the very best
We where amongst the very elite, we where the Waffen SS
Chorus
We went into hell in the ice cold East
To puncher the heart of the evil red beast
We where going strong as we made it outside the Kremlin
The Russian winter came as our bodies would give in
I saw to my horror comrades in frozen graves of ice
for sake of Fatherland they gave the ultimate sacrifice
chorus
in defeat I came back to a broken and shattered nation
women and children cried as they saw the red occupation
I was condemned as I was put on a show trial
The courageous where put in prison in typical Marxist style
Shamed as our people are put down, because they won
Even though now I’m spit upon, I regret nothing I’ve done

Well, I moved into town to live like a city slicker,
Loaded my truck, found a place, and here I am,
Though a country boy has a head a bit thicker,
City life is not so hard to understand,
And I've been learnin' how to use a computor,
How to do some picture takin' with a cell phone,
How to get insurance for my truck and motor scooter,
But city life is nothing like back home,
Because where I come from, they call it the boonies,
Dirt roads, back woods, life as country as can be,
Though now I'm mixed in with all the town loonies,
They'll never take the country out of me,
Yea, I can still plant me a nice little garden,
Though not nearly as big as it use to be,
And still listen to country music, Dolly Parton,
She's on my coffee mug for all to see,
And I still get to do some dear huntin'
For those split tails runnin' 'round here,
And I make sure to keep my truck tuned and runnin'
By way of Auto Zone, or I'd run out of beer,
Yea, I livin' in the hood, straight from the boonies,
It's great be an American and free,
Though I'm mixed in good with all the town loonies,
They'll never take the country out of me,
Yea, I moved into town to live like a city slicker,
And I'm doin' the best that I can...
I can drive by Churchill Downs and hear the horses nicker,
I'm just a country boy with a city slicker plan,
I can drive by Churchill Downs and hear the horses nicker,
I'm still a country boy, yea, that's who I am,
Though a country boy has a head a bit thicker,
City life is not so hard to understand.

Sons Of Liberty
Samuel Adams was a most wanted man
In pre American tyrannical land
In insane taxes the colonies drown
They were indentured servants to the crown
The Redcoat aggression showed no remorse
Brotherhood was formed to fight back with force
Chorus
Hail, hail, the Sons Of Liberty
Hail, hail, revolution without impunity
Hail, hail, The Sons Of Liberty
Hail, hail show no amiability
Smuggling wine to the secret of the coin
Enmity burned over the Boston massacre
drawn to the resistance, patriots would join
Boston Tea party struck back at the master
Hancock and Revere, they took to the gun
The Sons fought fearlessly at Lexington
Chorus
Would secretly meet at the liberty tree
fabric they torn,new nation is born
They set the stage to the road to be free
fiery inferno, for Hutchinson foe
patriot or terrorist introspective
hero's who attain patriotic objective
chorus(2)

In a well guarded place for two hundred and eighteen years
hangs a painting that is rare and revere but so well persevered
The work is oil on white Lombardy poplar panel
when years ago a candle would show her glow and enigmatic pose
A mysterious smile that will make you sit and stare for awhile
having the most writings and songs about her
in the Louvre of Paris she is their heiress
No matter her age or where she may hang
over the years at times she has gathered dust
The Mona Lisa is still the worlds most mysterious
a creation of Da Vinci's innermost piece.
T Reams 5th place

May life bless you with real freedom,
Keep enjoyment as your place,
May you find your own confidence,
From your education and your space;
May you entertain discernment,
Whilst fulfilling your desires,
And may platitude be rescinded,
By real love in your eyes.
May life be all it can be,
May your realities come from your dreams,
May your work become your eulogy,
And may your identity give your memes.
May you receive more than you give,
And see reason when there's none,
May your friends light your inside,
May you give hope to those with one;
May you save the exploited from oppression,
By making despair to you most personal,
And may equality be the standard,
For your repudiation of its dismissal.
May life be all it can be,
May your realities come from your dreams,
May your work become your eulogy,
And may your identity give your memes.
May you always uphold justice,
Even in dark and uncertain times,
When faced with honest requests,
And its unsettled times sometimes;
May you do what’s right no problem,
Not questioning the strain,
Nor grumbling about the consequences,
Of morality’s devoted love train.
May life be all it can be,
May your realities come from your dreams,
May your work become your eulogy,
And may your identity give your memes.
May your diamond be stalwart honour,
For war heroes old and injured,
Tormented by battlefields and sights,
Of the mangled and beleaguered;
May you testify to fact and truth,
And publish what you know;
And may reason be your sociology,
To dictatorial governments overthrow.
May life be all....
May you respect others in esteem,
For kindness and achievement,
May you follow those you understand,
As beautiful in accomplishment;
May you undertake endeavours,
Which ramify the other unstudied,
By embracing love and laughter,
As whispers of grace embodied.
May life be all...
May you always say what’s inside,
Whilst giving other people a chance,
Trusting them with your memories,
That history upon which you cannot glance;
May you always speak your mind,
To make rationality your guide,
And in dignity confide and correct,
To let the delinquent within you abide.
May life be all...
May your philosophies be trophied,
As a garland by the lonely,
And may your way be warmly accepted,
Without negotiation or apology;
May righteousness be your hallmark,
And caring thought your attribution,
And may you prevail generally as a good person,
Bringing light where there’s intrusion.

War is about
forms of revenge
fear and hate
wasted energy
war has been fought
for centuries
man has been
fighting for things
clinging to things
not realizing
what kind of things
to cling to
we understand
the need for peace
yet we cannot
find peace’s path
imagine
there’s no war
there would be
no sadness
heart broken mothers
weeping wives
lost children
war destroys life
peace embraces
with each breath
there is security
without thirst
only fulfillment
Edward J. Ebbs - October 25, 2015

< Plato liked his full
Ceaser liked his salad
And Molotov had a burning desire for cocktails
And of cause Wellington was upper crust
But who do you think had to pay for all this
Monet of cause
But the face of Helen of Troy looked as if she had
MUNCHED A THOUSAND CHIPS >
-----------------------------------------------------

Listen, Listen, Listen -
Open up your eyes and ears
See the starlight, watch it, feel it as it
Glistens, Glistens, Glistens -
Reflecting coldly off the teeth between the gears.
Run, Run, Run -
Come and see what's going down
Watch the people, hear 'em, fear 'em with their
Guns, Guns, Guns -
No time left for us to fool around.
These things we're doing can't be right
These deeds done in the dark of night
We'd better stop and answer the calls
From the Other Side, stop writing on their walls.
Look, Look, Look -
Read the things we're posting up there
Know the meanings, seek 'em, find 'em in those
Books, Books, Books -
That is, if you really do care.
Getting, Getting, Getting
Ask yourself what you really want
Taste the bitter, weigh it, say it while you're
Fretting, Fretting, Fretting
Over all the things of which you're not so sure.
These things we're doing can't be right
These deeds committed in the dark of night
We'd better stop and answer the calls
From the Other Side, stop writing on their walls.
These things we're saying can't be true
These things we're writing can't be what we want to do
We'd better stop and listen to the calls
From the people on the Other Side, and read the writing on the walls.

This Land Was Your Land (Cherokee Version of Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land)
This land was your land and now it's my land.
From the Georgia mainland to the Oklahoma prairies.
From the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River;
This land was taken from you by me.
As you was walking that trail of tears;
I saw above you the bird of death.
I saw below you those solemn footsteps;
This land was taken from you by me.
You were sick and hungry but forced to walk;
To the dust bowls of the Oklahoma panhandle.
And all around you tears were falling;
This land was taken from you by me.
When the cold winds blew and you was freezing;
And the snow was falling and you had no shoes.
As your mother was weeping a voice was chanting;
This land was taken from you by me.
As you was walking I saw a sign there;
And on the sign it said "No Indians Allowed".
In your defense I didn't say nothing;
This land was taken from you by me.
In the bowels of death I saw your people;
In church pews I saw my own.
As your's stood starving, I simply mumbled;
This land was taken from you by me.
Nobody dead can stop my greed;
As you go dying on that trail of tears.
The dead can own no land;
This land was taken from you by me.
By: Darlene Doll Smith

At one point in my life i was an artist
I used to paint and draw
Covering a piece of paper
In beautiful colors
And my art told a story
The sort of story you couldn't talk about
I used to go to school every day
Showing up late
Wasn't something I'd do
But i dropped out
Leaving my education behind
I played the bass guitar
In a band called
The Nocturnal
My fingers ran against that bass
Pure magic
The sound of the gods
Setting out to destroy the world
Pure Punk straight from Seattle
At one point i was clean
Sober and pure like a new born baby
Falling further into
What you now call
"disapointment"
Screwing up my veins
with every shot of herion
Killing my brain cells
With every joint i smoked
Clogging up my nose
With every pill you could have known
I used to write lyrics
About my life
My childhood
I used to write journals
The ones you read in the book
that was published of me
I got up on that stage every night
As i was
Nothing fake
Nothing glamourous
Only a few scars
One shot of heroin
Come as you are
The words only speak for
Themselves

When Europeans first came to America, it seemed to be their role...
To reach out with both hands, for all the goods and lands they stole.
When our nation was founded by men of vision...
They spoke out, their king showed them nothing but derision.
The colonization by troops and taxes imposed were so unfair...
Liberty from him was declared, fought for, and taken from there.
The thefts of that king were small by any means...
To the way we have treated our fellow Americans.
We continued to take the Indians' lands...
Never thinking twice, of the blood on our hands.
We greeted the black man with whip and chains...
Can we ever remove the ghosts of their pains?
Yes, we drenched our land red with blood to set them free...
But prejudice remains, even after more than a century.
We have helped set so many peoples free with our aid in war...
Have we forgotten at home, just what was fought for?
"Ours is the greatest country" we tend to shout...
Yet, the Ugly American still lurks about.
The world watches us with wonder and awe...
Many hate or envy us, because of our human nature's flaw.
Many cast for hope, but reel in despair...
The things we do to others, we must do with better care.
The Greatest Generation the world will ever know...
Is slowly dying, their life's light passing out, as darkening embers go.
If our nation should have learned anything...
It must be that millions suffer to have Freedom's Ring.
Our understanding and compassion will go a long way...
To let them see, the "Ugly American's " face, as not so ugly one day.

The past is another land,
not conjoined to future time,
but in memory or in books
People disagree with its interpretation,
for who's to say,
if, when
Dates are key to the historian,
and us too, in our memory of dusty rooms
in school
I see it now, the teacher's rushing hand with chalk
on board
telling us key dates
The boys were more interested in cricket scores,
and wistfully looked out of dusty rooms
at fields, now gone, in slender mists

Save Me
By: IzaDonna
Look in the mirror
Do you recognize her
Do you see the coldness in her eyes
Do you see where the darkness lies
Hidden secrets of the past
To late, the spells been cast
And as the stars arise
My own self will be my demise
Chorus:
So you think you can save me
Finally set my retched soul free
Be my ultimate savior
You thinking ur doing me a favor
But just let me alone
My fate is only my own
I get u try and u care
But thru it all u weren't there
I cant move on from my past
The agony I feel will always last
The knife is in way to deep
So let me shut my eyes and sleep
Cause u can't fix whats already broken
The pain I feel is better left unspoken
Chorus
So as the darkness creeps in
I feel I'm paying for my sins
No way to escape
My soul is yours to take
Just let me bleed these tears
Just let me lay here
Looking up at the sky
I ask God why
Chorus
Cause you can't fix what isn't broken
The pain is better left unspoken

I fast boy, this aint no foot race
What you playing?
What, you think you got a game ginni in your game pack
Well, I paint Black
And stain them in Pain on rare occasions
Occassionaly coming up in death throes
Dead body is my stomping ground on this beat
My melody be blasting bastards, knocking em backwards
the Force of theses 5 Felonies be unappropriate behaviors
And if you ever seen me in Airstrik...es,
Well, when you seem me you'll be very quiet
And if you thought it was adequate
my accurrecy so precise you can't phantom the damn damage
You know Im real skilled, and the satisfaction of it leaves me upset still
It was Mercy from God for me to carry this pain cause it suits me like it is a deep love
If Seashell's is ever in Hell then I'll be busting a knucklehead if he wants to act a badass
This aint a brag, no we never come in a boast boy,in my conduct I be, I promise you honorable,I standup as I stand for a higher standard
and when i get mad i act bad, When im in a heavy conflict
jaxattacks are my chosen tactics,
And nowhere in my eyes does she see me ever being a leader or getting the best of a ***** when she on my badside
My Blood cleansed that land, I faced the devil slanging quarters and halves in every which direction like my creation changed due to evolution thru the fact that i was moving too ****ing fast man, But i grew out of it like I went from panic to romantic attacks
From the battles with the devil and demons and nets set , and tribulations and Mania and Im still maniac, Still A disciple of Ninjitsu, my senses still keen, iM SINGLE till i get my possessions back, the love in my heart concealed, its so hard to hide my love I feel so many sharp p[ains,Love Felt feel these steel bars they are a million you would have to go thru to hope to find one, a connection u never dectected the quality of,im 10 times 99topics liike im a balla up talking in manner never heard of, be the bang that yo body been starving for, rt

On that day we were all the same, we didn't know there faces, we didn't know
there names.
There voices we heard crying all around the world, someones loving father,
someones little girl.
On that day we were called to lead a better life, for that someones father, for that
someones wife.
The list of souls read from above before it came below why it was and why it is the
answer no one knows.
Through the pain we have learned lessons great and small, life, love, and happiness
are precious cherish them all.
With grace we all go on, but never will we forget that all of these beautiful things
can fade so very quick.
On that day we wondered, on that day we cryed, on that day we asked ourselves
what kind of man am I?
Mothers held there children for so long and oh so tight, why did these people have
to go this was not there fight.
We hope and pray for all those names, and the ones they left behind they gave
their life for a question the answer we must find.
William J. Harty

Cro mag non man was a birth of a nation
Crete led the way for civilized creation
The Etruscans became the first Mediterranean power
Indo Europeans Settled Europe as others cower
The Aryans in India established a civilization
The Nile valley would be dominated by Egyptians
Chorus
We've once again taken history’s place
To show again we are the face
Our past is forbidden , the truth is hidden
We've once again taken history’s place
300 Spartans showed what there courage could do
Alexander The Greats strength was unmatched by few
Rome led 1000 years of prosperity before the decline
The Visigoths chased the Huns back over the European line
7 crusades led by a Christians to stem Islam
Ferdinand and Isabella condemned the Moorish harm
chorus
Everyone feared the fury of the pagan vikings of the north
Napoleon Bonaparte would bring military genius forth
The British empire would colonize every land
William Wallace bravely fought for the freedom of Scotland
The Teutonic knights helped spread across Europe Christianity
The 30 years of Christian wars brought nothing but insanity
Chorus
Expansion of discovery could never be touched
The United states would rise and the British would be crushed
The south would rebel for liberty and freedom
The British would slice the throat of the Ottoman kingdom
The first brothers war was thought to be the final stand
The Afrikaners fought relentless for the right of there land
chorus
The Bolshevik revolution brought a new plague into the world
The Germans brought a new hope as the banners were unfurled
All of Europe would unite under the waffen for it's European identity
The Marxist hippie movement brought moral hygiene to it's knees
Now it's the today and we have to keeping fighting for a new tomorrow
We must secure our destiny and keep having our history grow
chorus(2)

“F Bomb”
By Nate Spears
I got the heart of a man name Malcolm
The visions of Martin Luther
The tongue of Emmett Till
The brains of Medgar Evers
Can I get a window seat
Away from defeat
Can I get park for the kids to play
Next to the spot
Where Rosa refused her seat
Langston in my pen
Proud, young, and free
Handsome and intelligent
The government targets me
First,
In a second
My history is a blessing
The court system in racist
Society shows the traces.

Come lie down.
Beside me
there’s no other.
Push my firm words
inside your head,
my hard love,
‘cause tough love
crack tough skull.
You’re revolving on the rim.
Come,
come down to me,
a stream of knowledge.
A woman was here.
Inside my head
I hold books.
She went with bungalow
and children.
Children are children;
like monkeys they mimic
Her every step painted in vivid green.
Come,
come lie down.
Beside me my story is.
The truth
is never a tale
spilled from sweetened lips.
Come,
come down here,
come lie down.
Beside me
there is none
that can whisper this chronicle,
my chocolate story –
bitter-brown –
composed with blood and feather pen.
Sculpted in her head is
her post-colonial self.
Come taste of the wine I’m poured.
Come, come,
come lie with me.